[Air-l] Positive Aspects of Spam

Art McGee amcgee at virtualidentity.org
Fri May 16 23:02:16 PDT 2003


Greetings,

Is anyone doing any research on the positive aspects of
Spam? I'm thinking of something in particular, so let me
know if this makes any sense:

Most of the commercially oriented spam is directed at men,
specifically, men's insecurities about their virility (penis
size, stamina, etc.) or fanstasies about their sexuality
(huge-breasted nymphomaniac women who just turned 18, etc.).

I got to thinking about how this forced sexual bombardment
was different from the male-focused advertising and female
objectification that we have grown used to, which tends to
be more subtle, or less "aggressive." I started thinking
about the theories behind aversion therapies, you know,
where you immerse someone in something and make them engage
in it, eat it, look at it, or whatever, until it makes them
sick and they can't stand it anymore.

I started wondering if the spam bombardment, particularly
in terms of how it is perceived by men who receive it, is
having any effect on them or their behavior, world view,
or anything. I mean, after you receive your millionth
email telling you that your penis is too small, maybe
you start to believe it.

Then I thought, this is exactly the type of insecurity
around their bodies and sexuality that women have been
dealing with for centuries. I wonder if maybe, just maybe,
there is a slim chance that some of the madness of spam is
starting to have an unintended side-effect, or maybe, the
people behind most spam are women, and this is actually an
aversion therapy conspiracy?

Am I making any sense?

Am I on to something or just on something?


Art




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